Photo Essays

Panthers' Newton succeeds at Williams' expense

Week 13 was decision time. A time to put up or shut up. A time to - all right, I'm at a loss for clichés at the moment. But with four leagues, three of my teams are heading to the playoffs. Of course, I'm missing the playoffs in my most important league, a feeble title defense in the same vein of the Anaheim Angels in 2003. But here's a look at the guys who might have secured or thwarted your playoff hopes.

18 Photos Total

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Brian Blanco/Associated Press

Winner: Cam Newton

The entertainer and icon continues to put up dominating performances, scoffing at the notion that he's going to hit a rookie wall. Newton scored three rushing touchdowns and even had 27 receiving yards in a 38.26-point performance.

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Brian Blanco/Associated Press

Loser: DeAngelo Williams

But it should not be overlooked that Newton's three rushing touchdowns could have easily gone to a running back that a lot of people were counting on, Williams. I guess Jon Stewart owners should feel lucky they got at least one token rushing touchdown.

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Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Winner: Aaron Rodgers

You'd better hope that the Packers will not repeat the mistakes of the Colts and go for 19-0. Odds are the Packers will continue to roll and push for perfection which should mean more games like Sunday, where Rodgers threw four touchdown passes for 31.96 points.

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Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

Loser: James Jones

But seriously, you couldn't even give Jimmy Jones a fraction of a point in this scoring bonanza? You have to love starting Packers receivers because you always have a chance for points. But then you have days like this.

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Bill Feig/Associated Press

Winner: Drew Brees

Brees, with his hair thinning, does a lot for the bald community with nights like Sunday when he passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns - good for 25.68 fantasy points.

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Kevin Hoffman/US Presswire

Loser: Matt Hasselbeck

And then there's Hasselbeck, who let down the bald community with just 140 passing yards against the Bills on Sunday.

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David Duprey/Associated Press

Winner: Chris Johnson

Part of the reason Hasselbeck had just 140 yards was because Johnson decided to join the rest of us in 2011. Johnson rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns in a performance that must have fantasy owners who had faith in him excited for the playoffs.

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Nick Wass/Associated Press

Winner: Shonn Greene

But the rushing performance of Sunday belonged to Greene, who had 88 yards and three touchdowns. The last touchdown was one of those throw-away scores that doesn't mean much in situations outside of contract negotiations and fantasy leagues. This was a much-needed performance for Greene, in what should have been a tough matchup. But you can't always trust the matchup.

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Margaret Bowles/Associated Press

Loser: LeGarrette Blount

You need look no further than Blount to understand that. The Panthers and Buccaneers had given up the most fantasy points to running backs, but Williams and Blount struggled on Sunday.

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Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

Winner: Percy Harvin

Lost in Tebowmania was a huge performance from the Vikings do-everything guy. Harvin had 156 receiving yards and two touchdowns to lead all receivers with 29.50 points.

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Jake Roth/US Presswire

Loser: Eric Decker

If I told you that a Broncos receiver was going to get loose for a couple of long-gainers, you would have thought that it would be Decker, right? Well, we all would have been wrong. Decker had just 25 receiving yards.

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Bruce Kluckhohn/US Presswire

Winner: Demaryius Thomas

The big plays instead went to Thomas, who had 144 yards and two touchdowns. Of course, most of those points were for naught because Thomas is owned in less than one percent of leagues.

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Elise Amendola/Associated Press

Winner: Rob Gronkowski

The Patriots big-play tight end is engaged in a battle with the Saints' Jimmy Graham to determine the best tight end in fantasy football. Gronkowski takes the week with two receiving touchdowns and a rushing score for an incredible 24.60 points.

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Elise Amendola/Associated Press

Loser: Tom Brady

And while it's true that Brady did end up with 20.26 fantasy points, having his third touchdown to Gronk changed from a pass to lateral cost fantasy owners four points. Points I could have used.

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Paul Sakuma/Associated Press

Winner: David Akers

If you had to pick one Bay Area kicker, how many of you would have taken Akers? That would have been the right call as he scored 14 points.

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Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

Loser: Sebastian Janikowski

But what happened, Seabass? The Raiders struggled offensively and that filtered down to Janikowski who managed just two fantasy points.

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Paul Sakuma/Associated Press

Winner: 49ers defense

The 49ers continued to shine despite losing linebacker Patrick Willis. Of course, playing against the St. Louis football club will help.

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Don Wright/Associated Press

Loser: Bengals defense

The Bengals had long held Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in check in recent performances. That came to an end on Sunday, as the Bengals finished with a negative point. How is that even possible?